Ex-federal judge: 'Could not be any clearer' Constitution disqualifies Trump from ballot

A retired former federal judge recently said former President Donald Trump's disqualification from the Colorado Republican primary ballot should be regarded as a settled matter according to the US Constitution.

In a Saturday interview with MSNBC host Ali Velshi, J. Michael Luttig — a former advisor to ex-Vice President Mike Pence who is regarded as one of the most conservative judges in the country — said that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) should uphold the Colorado supreme court's decision disqualifying the former president under the Constitution's insurrection clause.

"The Supreme Court does not want to decide this case, and it will likely look for every legitimate way possible to avoid deciding whether the former president is disqualified from the presidency," Luttig said. "But having studied the disqualification clause myself for three years now, there are very few if any off-ramps that would allow the Supreme Court to avoid decision in this case. Indeed, I believe there are none."

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"Section 3 of the 14th Amendment simply could not be any clearer that the former president is disqualified from the presidency, as the Colorado supreme court held," he added.

SCOTUS issued a writ of certiorari on Friday in the Anderson v. Griswold case, meaning it will add the case to its increasingly crowded 2024 docket for the current term that ends in June. SCOTUS has scheduled oral arguments for early February. Luttig said that while precedent going forward will depend on how SCOTUS rules in the case, he's confident that the Court will agree with him and other legal experts on their interpretation of the insurrection clause.

"This is not a question, if you will, that's open to the American people," Luttig told Velshi. "The Constitution of the United States has settled this issue beginning with the ratification of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in 1868 — provided that that's what the Supreme Court of the United States holds."

Luttig added that the disqualification clause in the Constitution was arguably the "most democratic provision" in the entire document, and that the act of insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution was the "most anti-democratic" action someone could take.

READ MORE: Legal expert: SCOTUS should disqualify Trump given 'judicial conservatism' behind CO ruling

Watch the video of Luttig's interview below, or by clicking this link.